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Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) stepped into the public eye during the first few months of 2021. Fine art auction houses such as Christie’s and Sotheby’s were able to fetch high prices for works by digital artist Beeple, the team at Larva Labs, and many more.
So why are collectors shelling out upwards of $69 million for a JPEG?
Well, when you buy an NFT, you’re not just buying the JPEG, you’re buying the token. Regardless of your experience in crypto, you will be familiar with the idea that scarce assets and resources tend to have value. Provable scarcity, immutability, and programmability are just a few areas from which NFTs derive their value.
From the artist’s perspective, NFTs provide the potential for a new digital golden age. For instance, artists can sell their art as NFT and no longer have to rely on galleries or auction houses to sell their art. Instead, the artist can sell it directly to the consumer as an NFT, which also lets them keep more of the profits.
In addition, artists can program in royalties so they’ll receive a percentage of sales whenever their art is sold to a new owner. This is an attractive feature as artists generally do not receive future proceeds after their art is first sold.
Demonstrate an affinity between generative art:
CryptoKitties, released in 2017 as one of the earliest experiments with NFTs, aren’t just digital trading cards. They’re the output of code that randomizes their cartoon appearances, and potential input for future generations of kitties.
The founders of CryptoKitties wanted to prove the viability of a market for Ethereum tokens. To that end, they attracted people with cute visuals and gameplay. But another, perhaps inadvertent outcome was to demonstrate an affinity between generative art?—?that is, artwork that incorporates computer-automated systems?—?and the blockchain.
Today, artists are bringing ideas and methods from a long tradition of creative coding to the field of NFTs, and it feels like a good fit.
While galleries might worry over how to sell generative work?—?like software, as prints, or something else?—?the vocabulary of NFTs offers a simple solution: collectors don’t buy the system but a token that represents it.
What is generative art?
Generative art has existed since the 1960s, but the new on-chain generative art platforms are pushing the medium in an exciting new direction.
Generative art is developed through creative coding. Essentially, the work’s elements are created by the artist, and their code allows them to be generated with completely unique traits. After minting, each collector gets a unique version of their chosen project, based on the artist’s creative code.
While some are making insane investments in these unique projects, others still can’t grasp their true value.
On August 24, the artwork titled “Fidenza #313” by an artist called Tyler Hobbs sold for 1,000 ETH, roughly $3.3 million. Originally minted at around 0.17 ETH, the owner shortly sold the artwork for 0.58 ETH (roughly $1,400) on June 11.
Alto city is a bet on this ‘digital art form’:
Alto city is a collection of 15 900 generative art NFTs on Ethereum Blockchain. Each NFT represents a map of one of the world’s cities in artistic form. The artistic part of this project took a bit more than 2 full years.
It is the first NFT project that comes with a set of physical products that will sell and pay royalties to NFT owners.
This unique concept revolves around the idea that NFT collectors can feel a deeper sense of connection with the brand, which will translate into increased customer loyalty.
Collectors NFT’s will be used for the production of end products like phone covers sold to customers. Assuming that you mint Versailles, France in Ruby color and that this item already earned 200 EUR of royalties on the front end since its creation, you will receive these royalties with the next payment batch (end of the month).
At the end of every month, the foundation will pay royalties to ETH wallets of NFT owners based on ownership dates and related front-end product orders.
